McPhee's 3 closes door on Vanderbilt

After passing on a couple of earlier long-distance chances, Ricky McPhee buried a 3-pointer to provide Georgia's go-ahead points in its 61-57 win against Vanderbilt on Wednesday at Stegeman Coliseum.

McPhee's 3-pointer came with 2:22 left to give the Bulldogs a 56-54 lead. The Bulldogs put the Commodores away as Terrance Woodbury, Corey Butler, Trey Thompkins and Dustin Ware combined to hit 5 of 8 free throws in the last 1:17 of the game.

"I was actually open myself, but I wanted Ricky to get the ball," Georgia guard Corey Butler said. "He's Ricky McThree. He's a tremendous shooter and he was open. That's the shot that really put us back on top."

McPhee scored a game-high 14 points. Ware and Butler each had 10 and Thompkins added nine as the Bulldogs (11-17, 2-11) doubled their Southeastern Conference win total. Vanderbilt (16-11, 5-8) was led by A.J. Ogilvy with 12 points, while Brad Tinsley and Jermaine Beal each added 11 points.

Georgia's 61 points contrasted with the first time the Bulldogs met the Commodores this season. Georgia shot just two free throws and scored a season low in a 50-40 January loss at Vanderbilt.

"We wanted to come out and be a lot more aggressive," Georgia interim coach Pete Herrmann said. "Our whole objective was to put a lot of pressure on them and ramp up the aggressiveness and push the ball early. The whole theme was to be as aggressive as we could."

Georgia led by as many as 15 points in the second half. But Vanderbilt rallied to take a 54-53 lead with 4:20 left as George Drake hit a jumper. That would be the Commodores' final field goal of the game. McPhee's 3-pointer started an 8-3 Georgia run to clinch the game.

"It was a fastbreak situation and I was kind of trailing the play," McPhee said. "I was kind of lagging behind and they were able to get me the ball. That was a big shot. That was a momentum-changer."

McPhee had a hot hand much of the night. He hit 5 of 8 from the field, including 3 of 5 from the 3-point line. Herrmann said that McPhee passed up at least three shots on set plays prior to his go-ahead bucket.

"I was open, but I thought we needed better shots," McPhee said. "I didn't think they were good shots at the time, so I passed to guys with better shots."

After McPhee's 3-pointer, Woodbury rebounded a Vanderbilt miss and hit 1 of 2 from the line to push Georgia's advantage to 57-54. A pair of free throws by Beal brought Vanderbilt to within 57-56 with 36.8 seconds left. But Butler sank a pair of free throws with 25.2 seconds left to give Georgia a 59-56 lead. Butler had missed a pair of free throws earlier in the game.

"The first thing I thought, was man, I missed a couple earlier. I've been down all season and this is the lowest I've shot my whole career (69 percent)," Butler said. "I've been working on my free throws after practice. So I just did what I usually do, talk to myself in my head to distract myself so the opponent can't do it. I was saying things like if I missed those, I'd be the laughing stock of campus. So I stepped up to the line and knocked down the shots."

Georgia held Vanderbilt to 16 of 51 field-goal shooting (31 percent), including 6 of 23 from the 3-point line (26 percent). Beal and Ogilvy were a combined 6 of 20 from the field.

"We didn't play like we wanted," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. "We weren't where we wanted to be. You have to give credit to Georgia. They played with a purpose and that was the story tonight."